ARC: Chris Atkinson day one summary

The Fightback Begins for Atkinson
Queenslander Chris Atkinson started his fight back towards
the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship in stylish
fashion throughout the opening day the Caloundra Falken Tyres
Rally Queensland.
After...

The Fightback Begins for Atkinson

Queenslander Chris Atkinson started his fight back towards
the Globalstar Australian Rally Championship in stylish
fashion throughout the opening day the Caloundra Falken Tyres
Rally Queensland.

After finishing first in the opening round of the
Championship in West Australia but losing the win on a
mechanical technicality Atkinson is focused on amassing
Championship points this weekend.

Driving the Atkinson Racing Pro-drive built Subaru WRX Sti
Atkinson and his co-driver and brother Ben set the Imbil
forest alight this afternoon winning four stages of the eight
stages held today.

The pair consistently closed in on the lead that fellow
Subaru driver Cody Crocker had amassed during the opening two
stages of the day.

"We were probably too cautious over the opening couple of
stages, they were very tricky and pushing too hard could have
ruined the rally," said Atkinson.

By the end of the fourth stage Atkinson had closed the gap to
the leader to 13-seconds as he settled back into the
characteristics and power of the Subaru after his recent
drives in the Super 1600 class.

Continuing to take time away from Crocker's lead Atkinson
set the pace but was unable to close the gap over the
remaining stages finishing the opening leg 9.9 seconds in
arrears of his Subaru stablemate.

"We took a fair bit of time out of the lead this afternoon
but the time we lost on the opening couple of stages was just
too much," said Atkinson.

"Overall we are happy to be where we are, both for ourselves
and earning points for Subaru.

"With many of this afternoon's stages being included in the
second leg tomorrow I am confident we can take the challenge
to Cody."

Finishing behind Atkinson in third place was Simon Evans
followed by Dean Herridge and Juha Kangas.

Tomorrow's second heat will be run over 104 competitive
kilometres across six competitive special stages finishing at
Kings Beach.